Other Houses We Looked At Before Buying Our New One

Back when we were house hunting in 2010 we shared a series of posts that each profiled a different house that we looked at (you can see them here, here, here, here, and here). And even though our hunt is over this time around, we wanted to revisit 9 other houses that we casually toured (many of them just on Open House days) before we met The One. So we had fun driving around snapping pictures for you and reminiscing (“That was the one with the phone in the bathroom!” “That was the one with the family of deer in the backyard!”).

The Lake House: The first house was very modest in size and located just a few blocks away from our current house. So although it wasn’t in our dream neighborhood… dude, it was on a lake! But we learned that even with heavy renovations, it would be extremely expensive to add a bathroom on the lower level where half of the square footage was, and the extra-low ceilings down there were also a non-changeable feature (there was no way to make them any higher). So although it was under budget and on the water, it was a no go for us.

Note: Just like last time we shared house hunting pics back in 2010, we wanted to respect the privacy of each home’s owner, so that’s why the photos have been doctored (colors and orientations might be altered, we added a filter to obscure them, etc) thanks to our friend Photoshop.

The Big Ranch: You know we love a ranch, and this baby was actually pretty cool. There was a giant kitchen (crazy dated! needed so much love!) that was attached to a giant living room with a big fireplace, so we could just picture how doing some work could completely transform that area into a great open living space in the heart of the home. The cons were that the rest of the layout was a little choppy for us, and the price was significantly more than we hoped to spend.

The Gray Shaker: This house was initially promising because it was in our dream neighborhood and was listed for a pretty low price… but once we poked around we realized why. There was some unusual siding going on when it came to the exterior (the gray part sort of looked like plastic shaker shingles) and the inside was pretty broken up (steps down into some rooms, doorways and hallways between rooms that felt choppy, etc). So although the price was great, it just didn’t give us butterflies.

The Quirky House: This was definitely the most unusual of all of them. We called the basement “the HGTV room” because it was completely redone and looked kinda like the cabin of a yacht, complete with a built-in banquet that turned into bunk beds for kid sleepovers. However, the unusual roof line, the large stained glass window in the front, and the price (it was nearly 100K higher than our new house) weren’t right for us. Too bad because the street name even had “Young” in it…

The Updated House: This contemporary house was also so much fun to tour, because although it wasn’t in our favorite neighborhood and was substantially more expensive than our new house, it was really inspiring since almost all of it was completely renovated, so it was fun to see what they did – especially the giant fireplace in the kitchen. Oh, and this one was the one with a phone in the bathroom.

The Barn: This house was in our dream neighborhood but was more than we hoped to spend. It was really cute inside (a balance between already-a-blank-slate and we’d-do-a-little-gutting-in-some-areas) and it had a really nice circle driveway and a private yard with a deck along and some cute rooms upstairs with peaked ceilings. But along with being more than we wanted to spend, it had some layout quirks that we thought might be harder to work with than some other homes we had seen.

The Garage Theater House: This house was actually yellow when we looked at it, which almost tricked us into driving right by when we went back to shoot these photos for you guys. The new paint job looks awesome, and this house had THE BEST backyard. Complete with a deck and a pergola. The quirky and memorable detail was that the garage had been turned into a theater room (complete with dark walls, a giant projector screen, and amazingly loud surround sound) but there was a note from the sellers that said converting it back into a garage was easily done. It was priced out of our budget, but we’re not surprised at all that it sold (and has even been painted!) since we looked at it.

The Pool House: This house was in our favorite neighborhood, but was priced out of our range and had a bunch of higher-maintenance-than-we’d-like features… like a giant pool and an even bigger deck surrounding it. So we daydreamed about how much fun that would be, but reminded ourselves that a too-expensive house + high maintenance features (the siding covering the entire house is the kind that will eventually need to be replaced) wasn’t the way to go, even if it had one heckova pool out back.

The Double Staircase: This house was in our dream neighborhood, needed upgrading, but was still priced well above our range and felt a little too grand for us (there were two staircases!). But it was really fun to check out and imagine what we’d do. The funny thing is that when we walked through we had one of those “oh man, I wish the smaller, less grand, lower priced version of this house existed…”

Then literally less than two weeks later we saw another for sale sign, followed it back to a quiet cul-de-sac, and this was staring back at us.

When we learned it was the same size as our current house, well within our price range (nearly 100K cheaper than many other things we casually perused), and in need of tons of love… well, it was the easiest offer we ever wrote.

And that’s how casually walking through open houses can lead to buying a house. You have been warned…

It’s so funny how things work out. It’s easy to look at a lot of these other houses now and say “that just doesn’t look like a John and Sherry house to me…” (As though I really know anything about you!)

But it seems like you guys really ended up with the perfect new house for your family! Congrats.

Sigh! I wish a few of these homes were in my neighborhood. I’ve been searching for 7 years. I have a nice house, but just not my jam. But the burbs where I am don’t offer anything like these properties. Thank you for helping me dream.

I love the house hunting process. Even if you’re looking at houses that may not work, it’s so fun to think about what could be done in them. Also, I can’t let my husband read this post…..he may not go to open houses with me anymore for fear that we’ll actually end up buying something!

So fun. I love looking at homes for sale. My husband and I are throwing around the idea to move from SC to Western NC in 3 or 4 years. I started looking at mountain homes just for fun….never should have started looking!

Thats awesome, I love going through homes for sale even if its just casually.
Why does your house have the little yellow flags on the front yard? Where we live you only have that done if you are planning on digging, whether for a fence, deck, or even a garden.

I’ve seen that done where the lawn has recently been treated with chemical fertilizers or weed and pest treatments – I think it’s supposed to be a warning for people to keep kids and pets off the grass while the flags are up. Of course, I don’t know why people use scary chemicals in the first place…

Oh yes, I’ve seen those flags but these were county ones (used by Miss Utility to mark something) but we don’t know if it was a water line or a gas line. It was something for the survey for selling the house though (the yard is a weed and dirt fest, so it definitely wasn’t an attempt to fix that up.. it’s pretty far gone, haha!).

I love that you guys have “Miss Utility” it’s so southern and charming. I feel like “Miss Utility” should host a float in a parade and have that title given to a girl in a STEM field. Is that weird? We have Dig Safe…which fits New England pretty well haha. Just say it like it is.

There are a lot more kids Clara’s age (we went on a walk two nights ago and met 4 kids her age that she can grow up with and play with!) and it’s a bit more private (we’re in the back of the neighborhood on a dead-end street, so instead of 15 cars rolling by per hour there might be 1 or even none! This area also has great schools and giant old trees all over, so it feels cozy and warm. When we first drove through seven years ago during our first house hunting adventure, we were hooked, there just wasn’t anything in our budget at all (that was back in the boom of 2006).

Oh yeah, that one was fun for inspiration but it didn’t need us at all! We probably casually toured a dozen others, but those were the ones that stood out as being especially fun/interesting/different. We pretty much go to every open house that we see (we don’t make apts, we just slide through if we drive by one) so it’s a weekend hobby I guess you could say. Haha!

Open Houses are our favorite weekend hobby/pastime! We’ve seen some houses go through several re-dos – it’s always interesting to dream about what you could/would do. In 25 years though we’ve only seen one or two houses we’d actually consider buying. Guess we like our house too much to move.

During the inspection some were flagged as being dangerous (VA gets pretty bad hurricanes every 5 years or so, so you want trees to be healthy and not half-dead). We still need to get another expert opinion and then we have to thin out anything that’s dangerous/dying. There’s one in the back that we know is hollow (yikes!) so that’s on the list too.

Any chance you could have the hollow tree snagged down to 15′ or 20′ and leave it for wildlife? Hollow trees are valuable and surprisingly hard to come by from a bird nesting perspective. Safety first, of course, but maybe your arborist would consider it (mine always does!).

Ooh I’ll have to ask! It has a hole in the bottom (like a racoon hole) so I’m not sure if we cut it down that low if it’ll just splinter and fall apart since it’s so brittle down there, but it’s a really cool idea!

What a fun little tour! You two are so practical too! Just from these pictures I can definitely tell why you fell in love with that neighborhood. I love looking at open houses even though we aren’t in the market for another house. Although sometimes I fall hard and it makes me sad. There’s still that one house that I vow to buy if it ever goes for sale again.

Would you guys really never consider a house with a pool? What if you put in the pool yourself? While they are a lot of work and can be expensive to maintain, we use ours all the time and it’s definitely cheaper to make a backyard paradise than to buy a cottage at a lake.

Oh yeah I’d love one! I dream of adding one someday. John’s more on the fence (his family has a place at the beach and we have a town pool so he worries about the maintenance/responsibility of having one at home).

Awesome! So fun to ride along with you! I wish we had taken pictures when we were house hunting. But I did share our story of going from looking at rentals to having our offer accepted – in less than a week!! Crazy-pants – I’m telling you.

After 3 weeks of nonstop open houses and driving around neighborhoods looking for “the one,” we have finally found it. It’s not necessarily in my ideal neighborhood, but it is in a great school district, it’s quiet and I love the layout. Now time for the fun parts – the inspection, signing the P&S and getting the mortgage. I feel like we’ve been looking forever but really it’s only been a short time.

When you found your house, did you know right away it was “the one?” I have heard and read articles that when house hunting, most people know almost instantly that it is the one for them. Just curious if you felt that. Thanks!

Oh yes, we walked inside and saw all of that blue trim and wallpaper and laughed because when we said “It’s perfect!” we were looking at the windows and the molding and the layout (and the realtor probably thought we were nuts because she was looking at the wallpaper and the blue trim). We hadn’t even gone upstairs – pretty much the foyer had us at hello (seeing how the rooms were laid out off of all sides of it was awesome, and of course the location was amazing even before we went inside). We were pretty much just hoping there wasn’t some big deal breaker by the time we got upstairs (I don’t know, one giant bedroom instead of four normal sized ones?) but thankfully it was all pretty standard upstairs and I loved that we ended up with 2.5 baths instead of 3 (3 tubs is one too many to clean).

When we were looking at our current house, I felt the same way…just making sure there wasn’t a deal-breaker somewhere. It took us 4 years to end up in our perfect neighborhood, but it’s well worth the wait!

I second this. We absolutely knew. I’m someone who can find a way to make anything work, but we put an offer on one house and after it was done the pit of my stomach dropped out. I was iffy on it to begin with, but figured it was fine for a starter house. It wasn’t in the town we wanted but close enough. Then I realized I was *praying* it would fall through, and it did. It was NOT meant to be. Then there was a house on the lake that was beautiful and would have worked too, but we knew it wasn’t a forever home (that offer fell through too). Then was saw our house…and it was U.G.L.Y. It was hands down the worst of the homes we saw. The yard was way overgrown, it had an ugly addition on it, it needed serious updating….but oh my God – it felt like HOME. I KNEW this was my house. I knew it knew it knew it. I have never regretted once living where we do…and it’s even in the town we dreamed of! Hold out for the one that gives you all the good feelings and not just the logical “this will work” feelings.

We’re closing on “the one” tomorrow and it was totally love at first sight! When we walked in the door, I think I was squeezing my husband’s hand so hard that my nails dug into his palm. We’re bummed to be leaving Hawaii but SUPER excited to start our new adventure in the Napa Valley! Can’t wait to follow along with you guys in the new house!

Reading about how much of a deal-breaker low-ceilings is made me thankful we are both so short! I think we got a deal on our house because half our friends can’t make it up the stairs without crouching (or banging their head). Luckily the ceilings are high on both floors (once you get there) and we are hoping to move the stairs, but I can see how awful it would be to have to duck in your own house if you were John. I love your new house and am SO EXCITED for what you guys will do.

That’s awesome! I love when the right people snag the right house – and my tall John is so used to ducking I think he’d be ok on the stairs. He pretty much assumes most stairs are dangerous for a tall guy like himself, so I see him duck even when the ceiling is a foot away. Haha!

Two years ago, we knew our goal area here in Richmond and after months of looking and coming thiiiis close to settling, we decided to just wait until our perfect house came along in our budget . And it was totally worth the wait.

I just about peed my pants when I realized that you guys live a couple of streets away from us now and have seriously fought the urge to bring over a homemade pie and my paint sprayer to see if ya’ll need any help. ;)

No way!! Isn’t it awesome to wait and wait to get into a neighborhood you love?! We’re still pinching ourselves that we’re here. And you should totally come over with pie and a paint sprayer. Haha! Hope we at least see you around at night on a walk or something. We can’t believe how many other families are out in the evenings and it has been awesome to meet neighbors :)

Your new house is just adorable from the outside and I can’t wait to see what you do on the inside. Looking at these pictures with all those trees and all that LAND is *tempting* me to want to live outside the Bay Area some day in a place like Richmond!

The Washington Post (where I originally found your blog) recently covered a new line of paints from Benjamin Moore called Williamsburg. The are calling it vibrant 18th century paint with modern furniture. It reminded me of your new house + your design taste. I know you have your own awesome Benjamin Moore line, but I couldn’t resist sending you the link since it even shows blue trim making a come back!

I love the big, wooded lots! Seems like every house you looked at is like that. Is it common in you area? Maybe I’m just jealous because I live in Denver where trees are way less common and lots are tiny!

That’s just really what we love about Richmond, so we usually only look at homes in neighborhoods/areas like that (in order to have a bunch of wooded lots they’re usually older homes – some of which need lots of love – which is also a !). There are definitely areas without a lot of mature trees or wooded lots, but we tend to skip those in favor of the woodsy vibe :)

I follow your blog and hope to use some of your positibve energy in our upcoming move. We live in a great small town – in a house that we’ve outgrown. The kids have been on their own for quite a few years and the idea of downsizing appeals to us. We threw the FSBO sign in the yard and had 2 offers by the weekend. Yikes!
We accepted the offer from a young couple that was so in love with our house and living there to raise their growing family….the contract price was met as well. Now packing up to move is another story. I am so melonchaly about moving out of my forever house – to a smaller version of a home. The whole thing happened so fast – we do not have another home picked out – so I am extremely anxious.
When we move – we will have less maintainance ( no pool) less yard ( might be a condo) less expenses. I am trying to focus on the positive – but why is it so hard to let go?

I remember when we were house hunting last year and none of the houses we looked at felt right. One day we were driving by our current neighborhood and I let out a big sigh and told my husband “I just wish we could find something in a neighborhood like that one. Quick, turn into it! Let’s just drive through.” We spotted a brand new for sale sign, jotted down the address, and the next day there was an open house. My husband and I were noticeably giddy as soon as we stepped in the door – and now it’s ours! Isn’t it funny how you know “the one” as soon as you step in? It still feels too good to be true.

Our house had been on the market for THREE YEARS. It is about a mile down from both our parents. We always talked about how cool it was (built in bar in the basement/man cave anybody?) but we were happy renting in the city for the time. We finally decided to buy out in the suburbs right as it went under contract :( we looked and looked…found one that had had all the BIG expensive things fixed and replaced, but all the fun stuff was still left. Made an offer and things didn’t pan out. We figured we would save and live in a tiny apartment for awhile when poof! Contract fell through and priced reduced on our house! I wrote a letter to the sellers (it was their estate after their father had past) on why this house had to be ours ,made the best offer we could… Been living here over a year now!! Houses know who they are meant to be with ;)

Day 1: Call realtor to see a house that looks interesting.
Day 2: Do nothing because realtor is booked.
Day 3: See three houses, love the one I saw, show hubs that night.
Day 4: Make an offer in the morning, go into contract that night.

We weren’t even looking! And then we were buying. It’s funny how I can spend a year looking for the perfect … (fill in the blank, wallet, jacket, etc.) but with the most expensive purchase of life… total of 4 days… two really!

Love reading about your house hunt! We’ve just had an offer accepted on our VERY FIRST HOME and I’m super excited about it. Been following you guys for a while, but maybe now it’s time I trawl back through some posts and learn some stuff huh!? Looking forwards to seeing how this house turns out! :)

Aww, what a great post! I can’t wait for my time to house hunt. I did kind of feel this way when searching for a rental home, and man did I luck out with that search. My main goal was to find a place that was not falling apart, in a decent neighborhood, and I ended up with the cutest brick bungalow complete with charming details and almost NO problems whatsoever. Plus it is on the friendliest street in all of Cleveland. Now I think my house hunting standards are going to be a little ambitious…

You guys have beautiful houses… we live in teenie tiny apartments in Singapore and always envy all our friends in the West with beautiful lawn, picturesque views that look like they are from postcards!

It is fun looking at those “paintings”! Is the lake house not in a flood zone, I wonder? That was one of our initial elimination criteria when we were looking last year (oh, and a pool is another one on the elimination list :)).

I’d love to read more of your thoughts about this layout thing in your hunting. Like specifically what you find “layout quirks,” what you focus on when looking at layout, etc. Can you please share?

I actually don’t think it was (it’s a small man-made lake in our old neighborhood, so it mostly just dried out as opposed to getting any more full). It did have some little fish in there, which was so cute! We looked at a few houses in a floor zone in another area, but they were on a much larger lake. Oh and as for what we look for and look past in a house, here’s a post about that for ya: http://kokokara.info/2012/11/what-we-look-for-look-past-while-house-hunting/